The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Homebuilder sentiment falls as lumber costs soar

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 03:45 PM PDT

The arrival of spring — and with it, homebuying season — isn’t improving the outlook of homebuilders. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped to 82, seasonally adjusted, compared to February’s reading of 84. The index tracks homebuilder confidence in current and future single-family home sales and traffic of potential homebuyers on a monthly basis. The fall comes after last month’s gain broke the index’s two-month streak of month-over-month declines. The

Former Goldman exec behind Epstein townhouse buy: report

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 03:30 PM PDT

A former Goldman Sachs executive is behind one of the biggest — and most notorious — residential sales this year. Michael Daffey, who managed some of the investment bank’s hedge fund clients, is the buyer of Jeffrey Epstein’s Upper East Side townhouse, Business Insider reported. A spokesman for Daffey said he used cash and a bridge loan for the $51 million purchase. Proceeds from the sale will go to Epstein’s estate, which has established a

Buyer revealed for Vincent Viola’s massive UES townhouse

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 03:14 PM PDT

Vincent Viola’s Upper East Side townhouse went into contract last week, and now, the buyer has been revealed Alan Howard, the co-founder of European hedge fund Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP, bought the former Florida Panthers owner’s mansion at 12 East 69th Street, The Wall Street Journal reported. The British billionaire paid $59 million for the 20,000-square-foot townhouse, according to property records filed with the city on Tuesday. The building is roughly 40 feet wide

French architects Lacaton and Vassal take Pritzker Prize

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 02:47 PM PDT

The winners of this year’s Pritzker Prize for architecture are not starchitects known for glittering skyscrapers or controversial designs. Rather, French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, who were awarded the profession’s top prize Tuesday, are known for repurposing and adding to older buildings. Those include the contemporary art center, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, which was originally built for the 1937 World’s Fair; along with social housing complexes throughout France. Among the works cited

Live like a celebrity in these Miami area homes

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 02:30 PM PDT

Note: These properties are independently selected by our team. However, TRD partners with brokerages to source the most up-to-date listings. These South Florida homes may be far from Hollywood, but the region is the place to be if you’re looking to rub shoulders with celebrities. Shaggy, Cindy Crawford and Sylvester Stallone are just a few of the bold-faced names who’ve bought in and around Miami in recent months, and trendsetters in tech and finance also

Rihanna drops $14M on Beverly Hills mansion

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 12:55 PM PDT

Rihanna found love — in Beverly Hills. The singer and mogul behind Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty dropped $13.8 million on a 7,600-square-foot mansion in the Beverly Hills Post Office area, according to Dirt. It’s Rihanna’s biggest real estate play in Los Angeles of late — or at least the biggest known one. The seller is investor Daniel Starr, who purchased the home in 2016, as documented on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing.” He reportedly

Sonder to open in Flatiron Hotel next month

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 10:10 AM PDT

Sonder, the well-heeled startup that rents furnished rooms by the night, plans to reopen the Flatiron Hotel in April. The hotel, at 9 West 26th Street, will be its first in New York City — a year and a half after Sonder agreed to lease it. Despite the delay, caused in part by interior renovations being halted for six months during the pandemic, neither Sonder nor building owner Premier Equities is complaining. Normally, construction delays

Flood costs are highest in formerly redlined areas

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 10:00 AM PDT

Flooding costs U.S. homeowners billions of dollars every year, and new data shows that those costs are highest in areas that were previously redlined, Bloomberg CityLab reported. The analysis, compiled by Redfin using information from the First Street Foundation and the University of Richmond’s Mapping Inequality project, found that more than $107 billion worth of homes that are at high risk for flooding are in big cities’ historically redlined neighborhoods. “Put another way, 8.4% of

Did pandemic really trigger mass exodus from California?

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 09:15 AM PDT

A prevailing narrative of the pandemic has been that more Californians have left the state, and moved to places with lower taxes, cheaper housing and more space. But is it true? Well, it’s complicated. From October through December, 267,000 people left California compared to just 128,000 who moved in, according to a study by the California Policy Lab. But the organization, part of the University of California, found no evidence of “a pronounced exodus from

Covid raising costs for New York contractors

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 08:30 AM PDT

New York contractors are seeing their projects set back by Covid outbreaks and shortages of personal protective equipment. About 46 percent of contracting firms surveyed by the Associated General Contractors of America said they faced construction delays from a lack of protective gear. About 41 percent said work had been slowed by potential coronavirus infections on-site, the Commercial Observer reported. About one-third said they were not experiencing any delays. But perhaps more troubling is that

Judge says landlords have no constitutional right to “unregulated market”

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 07:29 AM PDT

A Manhattan judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by five New York City landlords challenging the constitutionality of the 2019 rent law. Judge Edgardo Ramos of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled against the landlords, who sought to overturn the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, according to the New York Daily News. The ruling adds to a number of decisions upholding the controversial rent reforms, which passed

Sluggish hotel market showing signs of life

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 06:22 AM PDT

Hotels are receiving an injection of new guests as more Americans receive the Covid-19 vaccine and consider traveling again. U.S. hotel occupancy hit 49 percent in the week ending March 6, its highest level since last August, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from STR. That’s down from 65 percent in March 2020 before the effects of the pandemic were fully felt. The uptick in travel is also prompting renewed interest in hotels by

Steve Wynn buys lakefront mansion in Palm Beach for $49M

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 05:30 AM PDT

Billionaire former casino mogul Steve Wynn paid $49 million for a lakefront estate in Palm Beach. Records show developers Patrick and Lillian Carney sold the 13,375-square-foot mansion at 1350 North Lake Way to an entity that lists Wynn Fine Art’s Las Vegas address and is managed by Nathan Lloyd. Last month, the Carneys sold an oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach to hedge fund billionaire and Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper for about $68 million. Wynn,

Brooklyn luxury contracts surge with $82M in deals

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 05:00 AM PDT

In a rare turn, condos led the pack of luxury contracts signed in Brooklyn last week. There were 24 deals inked for homes asking $2 million or more last week, according to Compass’ weekly report. The combined sales volume jumped to $81.7 million — a big increase from the previous week’s $60 million, spread across 18 deals. Brooklyn’s luxury market has largely been dominated by townhouses, which typically take the top spots for each week’s

Jeff Sutton sells $31M stake in Williamsburg property

Posted: 16 Mar 2021 04:00 AM PDT

The middle range of New York’s real estate investment market was active last week, with Jeff Sutton dealing in Williamsburg, a bulk condo buy at a fashionable Gramercy residence and an acquisition by design-development firm Tankhouse in Fort Greene. Six mid-level investment sales totaled $146.9 million, a jump from the previous week’s $81.2 million. Other transactions recorded last week involved a storage REIT in Queens and two mixed-use deals on the Upper East Side. Here